Europe resources 'running down'

The UK's own stores of oil, coal and gas will run out in little more than five years, a new report examining energy resources has claimed.

The study claims that a number of countries in the European Union, including France, Italy and the UK, are facing critical shortages of natural resources.

Produced by the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University, the natural resource maps indicate that some countries have less than a year of energy resources remaining and are almost entirely dependent on imports from the likes of Russia, Norway and Qatar.

Using the most recent data on known reserves and current consumption, researchers found the UK has 5.2 years of oil, 4.5 years of coal and three years of gas remaining.

France has less than a year's worth of its own reserves of oil, gas and coal.

Italy has less than a year of gas and coal, and only one year of oil.

Dr Aled Jones, director of the institute, said: "These maps show vulnerability in many parts of the EU and they paint a picture of heavily-indebted European economies coming under increasing threat from rising global energy prices.

"The EU is becoming ever more reliant on our resource-rich neighbours such as Russia and Norway, and this trend will only continue unless decisive action is taken."

Some Eastern European members fare much better, with 73 years left of coal in Bulgaria and 34 years of coal in Poland.

Germany has over 250 years left of coal but less than a year of oil and only two years of gas.

By comparison, Russia has over 50 years of oil, over 100 years of gas and over 500 years of coal, based on their current levels of internal consumption.

Professor Victor Anderson, also from the institute, said: "Coal, oil and gas resources in Europe are running down and we need alternatives.

"The UK urgently needs to be part of a Europe-wide drive to expand renewable energy sources such as wave, wind, tidal, and solar power."

The maps are part of the Global Resource Observatory (GRO) project being carried out by the Global Sustainability Institute, which examines the relationship between the world economy and the environmental factors and resources it depends on.